Accident Prone

In Ashton's VIP room…

"They got him." Olivia told Mia and Liz when she got the message from Mike.

The three of them are having dinner in Ashton's room. They promised Sabrina that they will watch over him until she is back.

"Did you hear that?" Mia asked Ashton who is lying unconscious on the hospital bed. "Everything is going according to the plan. Rina got Jack. Hunter, Derek, Jake, and Mike are with her. And Max is waiting for them at the safehouse. They will make sure that Jackson suffers for what he did to you." Mia sighed. "I don't know if you can hear me, but… please, wake up. Rina is in a dark place and only you can help her out of it. She is blaming herself."

Mia looked at Ashton intently, as if she is hoping that he will move due to her words. After some time, she exhaled sadly and turned her attention back to the table where the food is.

"I didn't know that Ashton and Sabrina are dating." Olivia said with a hope to lighten up the mood.

"It's recent." Liz responded to Olivia's curiosity. "They are smitten with each other. He moved into her place and just by looking at them, you can confirm that what they have is real. It's like in the movies: when their eyes meet, they focus on each other as if no one else exists."

"You can feel their happiness. It's radiating." Mia added and glanced at Ashton. "It's too bad that this happened. I feel that they didn't get a chance to enjoy their time together, and they are already facing challenges."

"It's important that he is alive. If Rina was a bit later…" Liz didn't finish her sentence. "Challenges test a relationship, but if the couple is committed, it will make them grow stronger. That is what happened with me and Max."

Mia and Olivia agreed. If Max and Liz didn't face challenges they would probably not end up together. It is almost as all the difficulties and accidents brought them closer to each other.

"What about you and Mike?" Mia asked Olivia. "How did that happen?"

Olivia fidgeted for a bit before responding. "Ever since we went searching for Max and Liz, when we thought that someone kidnapped them and they were fooling around on a boat, Mike and I are in touch. It started with texts and a few phone calls. And then one day he came to see my latest work in the art gallery, and after that, we had coffee and drinks and dinner… that was about two weeks ago. Since then we are an item."

"Nice." Mia said. "Out of Hunter's squad, only Jake and Derek are single."

Olivia wanted to say how that is not 'Hunter's squad'. Who made Hunter a leader? But something else caught her attention. "Since when is Jake single? Isn't he dating Grace? Did they break up?"

"Grace?" Mia and Liz asked in unison with confusion obvious on their expressions.

Liz remembered Grace. Max told her that Grace is the woman who was helping them with McKenzie. "If that is the same Grace I'm thinking of, she is their neighbor and Hunter's classmate from high school. She is the one who helped keep McKenzie anxious during that party."

Olivia's eyes darted from Mia to Liz. "Why would she keep McKenzie anxious?"

Mia saw that Liz is not willing to talk about it, so she did. It's not a secret, anyway. "McKenzie wanted to drug Liz, and she ended up falling into her own trap. First, she believed that Max took the spiked drink and that he is overdosing. And then, she caused a big scene while screaming that Liz drugged the fruit punch. It was hilarious."

Olivia's mouth formed an 'O' shape. She watched videos online of McKenzie raging at the party and the rumor is that she got institutionalized. "You are behind that?"

Mia confirmed. "It was all Liz's idea. She is the mastermind behind it."

"Please tell me the details…" Olivia almost pleaded.

Mia glanced at the time. "Sure, it's not like we have anything better to do. First, Max and Liz guessed that McKenzie will be up to something, and they got her followed. That is how they found out that she bought cocaine…"

~ Seattle, undisclosed location ~

9:11 PM

Jackson is in the room, tied up to a chair.

When they removed covering from his head, it took him a few minutes to adjust to the light. He heard steps and the door closing, and by that time his vision returned, he saw that he is in the room with Sabrina.

He glanced around and noticed that there are no windows, the walls are bare other than one large mirror on his right.

"Where are we? What is the meaning of this?" Jackson asked with a panic in his voice when he saw Sabrina looking at him with an unreadable expression.

Sabrina walked to the table on the side and took a taser gun.

Jackson could not see what else is on that table, but he saw that it's full of different things.

Jackson's eyes widened in horror when he saw that Sabrina is pointing a taser gun in his direction. "What are you doing?"

"Seven times, Jack…" Sabrina squeezed through her teeth.

Jackson didn't understand. "What?"

"Ashton was tased seven times."

A moment later, two electrodes shoot from the taser gun and got lodged inside Jackson's chest and his whole body jerked violently when 50,000 volts assaulted him. During those few painful seconds, he was unable to breathe.

Sabrina released the trigger and Jackson panted while struggling to inhale enough air.

"Do you know that people can die from this?" Sabrina asked flatly while walking back to the table. "The electric shock causes all your muscles to spasm, heart included. And you could die."

Jackson was still panting when he saw that she took another taser gun. "No! Stop! Is there a need for you to do this?"

"You want me to stop? You don't understand why I'm doing this?" Sabrina asked in a faint voice. "I'm sure that Ashton had the same thoughts while thugs you hired beat him up."

She lifted her hand and pressed the trigger.

Jackson wanted to scream from the pain his cramping muscles went through, but he was unable to make a sound.

Jackson was confident that he will pass out, but then the pain stopped. It took him a few minutes for his mind to clear enough so that he can understand what Sabrina is saying.

"I wonder, how did they lure him into the alley? Did they ask him what is the time? Did they ask him for help? Or maybe they pretended that one of them is hurt? Ashton is a kind person, I'm sure that he would stop to help. But then, they tased him and beat him up even when he was unable to defend himself. It was four of them. FOUR OF THEM, JACKSON!" Sabrina screamed. "With taser guns and clubs and who knows what else? They didn't give him a chance to escape or to defend himself..."

Jackson was gasping for air and he lifted his head only to see another taser gun pointing in his direction.

"Shit!" He managed to curse a split second before electrodes pierced his skin, completing the circuit and sending excruciating pain into his body.

Sabrina frowned when she saw that Jackson fainted.

"Can someone wake him up!?" Sabrina shouted. She knows that others are watching from the other side of the one-way mirror.

One of Max's men entered the room and put a bottle with a strong medicinal smell under Jackson's nose. When Jackson stirred, the man left.

"Does it hurt?" Sabrina asked Jackson in a voice devoid of emotions. His appearance told her that he is at his limit and that he does not have the strength to respond.

"Four more times, Jackson. You should be able to survive that much. And I can assure you that I will not do anything while you are unconscious because I want you to feel every bit of pain which is coming your way... We had lunch, and Ashton offered to cook for dinner. I told him that we should go out for dinner and celebrate. He was happy. He didn't see it coming... He invited me to come to the cafe where he is working so that he can make me something special. You want to date me? You don't know what dating is. You don't know what love is..."

Jackson didn't hear what else Sabrina was saying because she tased him again.

On the other side of a one-way mirror…

"Will she be OK?" Derek asked Hunter.

"She will be after this, and when Ashton wakes up." Hunter responded.

Derek grimaced when Sabrina tased Jackson again. The tasing itself is not the problem, but Sabrina's expression is vicious. She does not look like a pampered young heiress he is used to seeing. The Sabrina in front of him is more like a bloodthirsty demoness.

---

If you are not reading this at 'W e b n o v e l . c o m', then the content you're reading is stolen! Please support the author by reading this novel from the original source.